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Young forestry stars: Meet Ali Zarei

Jan. 16, 2018 - Canadian Forest Industries Top 10 Under 40 contest is an annual tradition, drawing in nominations from coast-to-coast and recognizing young leaders in forestry. 

To individually acknowledge each winner and his or her contributions to the forest industry, CFI is featuring each of our top 10 winners of 2017 over 10 weeks.

Leading up to our final week, we introduce readers to Ali Zarei.

Ali is controller and corporate secretary at Richmond Plywood Corporation Ltd., in Richmond, B.C.

He has played an integral role to advancing Richmond Plywood Corporation’s mill through production and operational management, financial steering and streamlining, and all in just one year. 

Ali came to Richmond Plywood on an interim basis from Deloitte LLP and was appointed full time in May 2016. The 30-year-old stands out within the company where the median age is around 50-60. 

“He is a visionary, goal oriented, and forward thinking executive management member who constantly sets the bar high for expectations and is progressively aiming to improve his team members,” Gurnam Minhas, Richmond Plywood’s president and chairman, says. 

Ali’s achievements include record-setting financial ratio improvements and significant capital generation and streamlining the accounting department through the integration of a new accounting system with other supporting systems. 

“He plays a vital role in ensuring our organization is in line with all our partnered associations’ expectations, which expresses his high level of care for quality assurance,” Minhas says. “He is always generating new ideas and pushing our boundaries to unforeseen limits, which have been greatly appreciated from a chairman, board of directors, and organizational standpoint.” 

Stay tuned for our last spotlight next week on Marco Gaudette.

And read last week's on Chris Kalesnikoff.

January 16, 2018  By Canadian Forest Industries staff